Musical instrument with bells

ABSTRACT

A musical instrument comprises a bell supporting belt having a plurality of spaced apertures provided therein, a plurality of bells disposed on one side of said bell supporting belt and each having a fitting part formed in a closed loop, said fitting part of each of said bells projecting through and outwardly of the associated one of said apertures provided in said bell supporting belt, and a through belt disposed along the other side of said bell supporting belt and penetrating through said closed loops formed by said fitting parts.

D United States Patent 1 1 1111 3,747,462

Mizuno 1 1 July 24, 1973 [54] MUSICAL INSTRUMENT WITII BELLS 364,311 6/1887 Simons 116/170 [75] Inventor: Tsugio Mizuno, Tokyo, Japan FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS [73] Assignee: Kabushiki Kn Koishikawa 4,389 10/1891 Switzerland 116/170 Shokai, Yokkaichi, Japan Primary ExaminerRichard B. Wilkinson [22] Filed: 1972 Assistant Examiner-John F. Gonzales [211 A M 240,987 Attorney-John J. McGlew, Alfred E. Page et a1.

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data [57] ABSTRACT May 11 1971 Japan 46/3697 (utility model) A musical instrument comprises a bell supporting belt I having a plurality of spaced apertures provided therein, 52 us. Cl. 84/406, 116/170 a plurality of bells disposed on one Side of said p- 51 Int. Cl. 610d 13/08 Porting belt and each having a fitting p formed in a 581 Field of Search 84/103, 402,- 406; 01086410011, Said fitting P Of each of said bells P 6/170 171 jecting through and outwardly of the associated one of said apertures provided in said bell supporting belt and 5 References Cited a through belt disposed along the other side of said bell UNITED STATES PATENTS supporting belt and penetrating through said closed loops formed by said fitting parts. 130,995 9/1872 Hayden .7 116/170 282,344 7/1883 McClintock 116/170 7 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures PAIENIED .m124 ma MUSICAL INSTRUMENT WITH BELLS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a musical instrument and particularly to a so-called rhythm instrument with a plurality of bells. It is heretofore known that the rhythm instruments have a plurality of bells fixed on abell supporting elastic belt by grummets, pins, rivets, etc. However, these heretofore known rhythm instruments have had such a disadvantage that the bells fixed on the elastic belt are apt to fall off from the elastic belt by repeatedly shaking of the rhythm instrument, because of direct connection of the bells to the elastic belt.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a musical instrument having no disadvantage as described above.

According to this invention, the musical instrument comprises a bell supporting belt having a plurality of spaced apertures provided therein, a plurality of bells disposed on one side of said bell supporting belt and each having a fitting part formed in a closed loop, said fitting part of each of said bell supporting belt projecting through and outwardly of the associated one of said apertures in said bell supporting belt, and a through belt disposed along the other side of said bell supporting belt so as to penetrate through said closed loops formed by said fitting parts. Since the bells are thusly supported through the through belt by the bell supporting belt, the bells are not left'out even if the musical instrument is used repeatedly for a long time unless otherwise the through belt is worn or torn off.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The invention will become more readily apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the acompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a musical instrument constructed according to this invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentalelevational view, on an enlarged scale, looking in the direction indicated by an arrow A; and

FIG. 3 is a cross section taken on a line 8-8 of FIG. 2.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In FIG. 1, there is shown a musical instrument of the invention, which comprises a U-shaped handle 1 having a pair of legs 2 and 3, and a bell supporting belt 4 fixedly connected at the opposite ends to the legs 2 and 3 of the handle I to form a closed loop as shown. The bell supporting belt 4 may be made of any suitable materials such, for example, as plastics, metals, leathers, etc. As clearly shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the bell supporting belt 4 is provided therein a plurality of spaced apertures 5 of any suitable form.

The musical instrument further comprises a plurality of bells 6 which are disposed along the outer side of the bell supporting belt 4 in opposite relations with the associated apertures 5 in the bell supporting belt 4 and which may be of a conventional construction. As best shown in FIG. 3, the bell 6 comprises a pair of cups 7 and 8 connected together at their marginal portions in a suitable conventional manner and defining a chamber 9 in which a heater 10 is contained so that when shaking the m usieal instrument the beater 10 beats the inner surfaces of the cups 7 and 8 to thereby produce sounds rhythmically. The cup 7 is formed with an integral fitting part 11 at the end wall remote from the bottom of the other cup 8. The fitting part 11 projects from the outer bottom surface of the cup 7 to form a closed loop 12. It is of course necessary that the apertures 5 provided in the bell supporting belt 4 are of a diameter sufficient to receive the fitting part 11 and to allow only the latter to project outwardly of the aperture 5.

Furthermore, the musical instrument comprises a through belt 13 penetrating through the closed loops 12 formed by the fitting parts 11 and along the inner side of the bell supporting belt 4. While the manner of mounting the through belt 13 is not shown in the drawing, it is to be understood that the through belt 13 may be fixedly connected to either the legs 2 and 3 of the handle 1 or the bell supporting belt 4 in any suitable manner. Although any kind of materials are available to this through belt 13, it is preferable that the through belt 13 is made of such a material as having a certain flexibility and elasticity to facilitate its penetration through the closed loops 12 formed by the fitting parts 11 and having a sufficient strength to prevent the disconnection of the bells 6 therefrom.

From the foregoing, it is understood that the bells 6 can be fixed perfectly with ease, and that the bells 6 are not dropped off unless the through belt 13 is worn or torn off. The through belt 13 is made with sufficient strength to insure that it is not worn or torn off by the repeated use of the musical instrument.

While the invention has been illustrated and described with reference to a single preferred embodiment thereof, it is to be understood that various changes in the details of constructions and the arrangement and combination of parts may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. For example, the handle may be of a ring or annular shape other than U-shape and the bell supporting belt may be an integral part of the handle as the case may be.

What I claim is:

l. A musical instrument comprising a handle, a bell supporting belt having a plurality of spaced apertures provided therein and connected at the opposite ends to said handle to form a closed loop, a plurality of bells provided with a fitting part defining a closed loop and disposed on one side of said bell supporting belt so that said fitting part of each of said bells projects outwardly of the associated one of said apertures in said bell supporting belt, and a through belt disposed along the other side of said bell supporting belt and penetrating through said closed loops formed by said fitting parts.

2. A musical instrument of claim I, wherein said bell supporting belt is an integral part of said handle.

3. A musical instrument of claim 1, wherein said through belt is made of flexible materials.

4. A musical instrument of claim 1, wherein said bells are disposed on the outer side of said bell supporting belt in equispaced relationship and said through belt is disposed on the inner side of said bell supporting belt.

5. A sounding device comprising a support belt having at least one opening therethrough, a soundproducing member on one side of said belt and having a fitting part in the form of a loop extending through the opening, and a securing member carried on the opposite side of said belt and extending through the loop parts and being secured to said belt.

7. A sounding device, according to claim 5, including a handle portion connected to said securing member and to said belt, said handle member comprising a substantially rigid U-shaped member having a leg portion connected to each respective end of said belt. 

1. A musical instrument comprising a handle, a bell supporting belt having a plurality of spaced apertures provided therein and connected at the opposite ends to said handle to form a closed loop, a plurality of bells provided with a fitting part defining a closed loop and disposed on one side of said bell supporting belt so that said fitting part of each of said bells projects outwardly of the associated one of said apertures in said bell supporting belt, and a through belt disposed along the other side of said bell supporting belt and penetrating through said closed loops formed by said fitting parts.
 2. A musical instrument of claim 1, wherein said bell supporting belt is an integral part of said handle.
 3. A musical instrument of claim 1, wherein said through belt is made of flexible materials.
 4. A musical instrument of claim 1, wherein said bells are disposed on the outer side of said bell supporting belt in equispaced relationship and said through belt is disposed on the inner side of said bell supporting belt.
 5. A sounding device comprising a support belt having at least one opening therethrough, a sound-producing member on one side of said belt and having a fitting part in the form of a loop extending through the opening, and a securing member carried on the opposite side of said belt and extending through the loop of said fitting part to hold said sound-producing member to said belt.
 6. A sounding device, according to claim 5, wherein said sound-producing member comprises a bell on the said support belt having a plurality of openings at spaced locations therealong with said fitting part of each of said bells extending therethrougH, said securing member extending through each loop of said fitting parts and being secured to said belt.
 7. A sounding device, according to claim 5, including a handle portion connected to said securing member and to said belt, said handle member comprising a substantially rigid U-shaped member having a leg portion connected to each respective end of said belt. 